"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
It was starting to rain
On the night that they first decided
It was blinding with snow
On the night that they ran away
They were found in the dark
But they never returned
Just like somebody slammed the door
She was meant to be wild
He was nearly a child
But they only could feel each other
They were paper and fire
Angel and liar
The devil of one another
Then they were thrown to the ground
Wiht a terrible sound
Just like somebody broke a heart
Rock 'N' Roll Children
Alone again
Rock 'N' Roll Children
Without a friend
But they got Rock 'N' Roll
It was starting to rain
On the night that they cried forever
it was blinding with snow
On the night that they screamed goodbye
They were lost in the dark
And they never returned
Just like somebody slammed the door
On Rock 'N' Roll Children
Alone again
Rock 'N' Roll Children
Without a friend
On the night that they first decided
It was blinding with snow
On the night that they ran away
They were found in the dark
But they never returned
Just like somebody slammed the door
She was meant to be wild
He was nearly a child
But they only could feel each other
They were paper and fire
Angel and liar
The devil of one another
Then they were thrown to the ground
Wiht a terrible sound
Just like somebody broke a heart
Rock 'N' Roll Children
Alone again
Rock 'N' Roll Children
Without a friend
But they got Rock 'N' Roll
It was starting to rain
On the night that they cried forever
it was blinding with snow
On the night that they screamed goodbye
They were lost in the dark
And they never returned
Just like somebody slammed the door
On Rock 'N' Roll Children
Alone again
Rock 'N' Roll Children
Without a friend
Lyrics submitted by JudasPriest1977
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Ed Sheeran
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“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
I also like Frankenstrat's interpretation, but I'd like to take it even further and apply it to any lovers who come from backgrounds that would normally oppose each other.
They say love transcends all boundaries, and it can be found in the strangest of combinations, such as, say, a Christian and an athiest who are both willing to recognize that in spite of their differences they can both still be together.
Rock N Roll Music was originally brought about by mixing two main types (Country/Mountain/Folk) and (Blues/Soul/Gospel). Without getting too much into the backgrounds, it can be said that Rock N Roll was a fusion of God's Music and the Devil's, which is why it makes sense the subjects of the story are called "Rock N Roll Children."
I like to intepret these lines as follows: "They were found in the dark But they never returned Just like somebody slammed the door"
as the two children consummating their love by committing suicide together, thus "never returning," a lot like Romeo and Juliet. The slamming of the door could be the closing of the door to Eternity after it's been shut behind their backs (i.e. after they both die)